The Night They Bowled
by thegoodgirldoll
Summary: She hadn't remembered anything about it, so he decided to finally take her, and make her remember. Make her remember the night they bowled.


He dropped the suitcase and kissed her with full force. His arms wrapped around her as he realized what was happening: she was giving herself completely to him; pledging to stay with him until the end…The end that he felt was a little too near. A sudden though popped in his head as he stood there, amidst the people, kissing her.

Bowling.

He had to take her Bowling. He had held out all this time to see if she remembered, but she hadn't. So he would have to make her. He pulled away and picked up the suitcase. An older, respectful man stood behind them, waiting patiently instead of cutting in front of them in line. Keith clapped him on the shoulder.

"You go ahead, I can't leave this woman."

He ran with Natalie then, grabbing her by the hand. For the first time in awhile, they both truly _laughed. _Keith opened his truck door for her when they reached it in the parking lot. Still laughing, Natalie jumped in and then looked over at him.

"Where are we going?"

He grinned. "The sky's the limit," he pulled the clutch to start. "and Bowling is the stars!"

She laughed.

Bowling. Finally.

They sat in amiable silence mostly then, Keith cracking jokes every once in awhile as they went along, and eventually they arrived at the Bowling Alley in town. Keith smiled over at her.

"We're not saving it anymore." He whispered.

She shook her head. "We could." She offered him.

"No, we can't." He replied, even quieter than his previous statement. A painful reminder of their present and future together, was all that stillness and quiet in his voice had to offer. Natalie smiled, refusing to let her composure crumble.

"I love you, Keith." She said, almost inaudible.

He stared at her for a moment, confusion etched in his deep green eyes. Then, his facial features softened, and Natalie let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"I love you too, partner."

Then, he got out of the truck abruptly, and lead the way into the building. The smell of nachos and bowling ball cleaner hit their noses and Keith inhaled the scent.

"So, this is it." He grinned, rocking back and forth on his feet." "Shoes?"

"Definitely." She smirked, following him to the front desk.

Only moments later, they were lacing up blue, green, and red colored miss-matched shoes. Bold black numbers were displayed on the sides: For Keith, an 11. For Natalie, an 8. Once they were finished, he slapped his hands on his knees and stood. He glanced to his right then, and froze. His eyes caught sight of the pool table, standing in front of various claw-machine games, and fake tattoo dispensers. His thoughts fell on Al and he swallowed thickly.

_"I've been thinkin' about that concrete goal, Al."_

_ "And?"_

_He grinned, shooting the ball into a side pocket. _

_ "I think I've nailed it."_

_ "Good."_

_ "I feel really good about this one, Al." This one…He had tried many, all failing. "It's a girl."_

_ "Cool, what's she like?" He shot his own ball. _

_ "Well, smart, beautiful, popular. Classic TGFY."_

_Al didn't reply, and Keith smirked. "Too Good For You, Al."_

_ "But not for you?"_

_ "Well I think we can both agree I'm pretty much outside the whole high school food chain at this point, right?" _

Keith snapped back to reality, and looked behind him. Natalie was smiling slightly, but had a mask of confusion covering her features. He smiled at her gently. Never had he imagined his little goal could work out this well. He never thought she would give him the time of day, and now they were Bowling together.

Bowling.

"Ready to get going?"

"Yes." She nodded, following him to their lane.

They had lane number 1, at the very end wall. Keith took her by the hand and lead her to the rack of Bowling balls lined up there. Keith's eyes widened.

"What?" Natalie asked, before she too realized what he was so shocked at.

There, in front of them, were Cosmo, and Patsy.

"No way," he breathed, picking up the Cosmo ball. "how did these get here?"

Natalie shook her head. "I have no idea. This is amazing." She replied, picking up Patsy. Grinning, she adopted that thick southern accent again. "I guess that's wasn't my last game after all."

"Then neither was it mine." He said, shaking his head slightly as they walked over to the lane. The pins were dropped down, and the game had begun. They had put their names in as 'Partner 1', and 'Partner 2', but hadn't decided who was who yet.

"Alright, you can go first, Nat."

Natalie smiled. "Alright, but you'll be sorry."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure."He laughed her off.

They eyed him up, then walked forward, getting into the position to roll the ball correctly down the light, polished wood. In an instant, she was smaller in Keith's eyes, around 11 years old. Her hair was long and blonde, down her back in a braid, and she was wearing light ripped jeans, and a nice sweater. School had taken them on this 'field trip' the celebrate the success of their Christmas play. He was on her team. She was struggling with the heavy ball; her fingers were so small, and thin. Then, he remembered his 12 year old self, rushing up to her, securing his arms parallel to hers, reaching in front of her, and rolling the ball with her; supporting it's weight. They hit no pins, but stood there for a moment, smiling at each other.

"What are friends for?" He had asked, and she had just kept smiling.

He took in a deep breath: this was the only way he could think to get to remember if she hadn't already.

He ran up behind her, placed his hands in the same position they had been that day, and rolled the ball with her. They hit no pins. They stood there, looking into each other's eyes.

"What are partners for?" He breathed, looking down on her.

She leaned back against his hold, so he was supporting the thin frame of her weight. "We've been Bowling before." She said, half as a question, half as a statement.

"We have." He agreed quietly. "You remember."

"I remember." She nodded.

He smiled, pulling her to a full standing position, and still looking at her. "We were on the same team. Miss Wishaw told us to pair up-"

"- with _partners." _Natalie recalled.

"Yeah. I saw you struggling, so I claimed you as mine."

"I've always been yours haven't I?"

"I had hoped. I don't think you realized it until I left for the airport though." He joked, though the statement held completely truth.

"I'm sorry it took me paying no attention to the whole beginning, to come to you in the end."

"Being with you is like the beginning." He said, taking her off-guard. "Being with you is always amazing."

Natalie smiled. "I wish I could buy you more time."

"Is there a scholarship for that?" He asked, smirking sarcastically.

She shook her head, when wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Blocking the lane that was only there's, they stood there, embraced, kissing.

And just like the airport, everyone watched.

They had to stop with these public Kissing Scenes.

"Someone's really going to get the idea that we're madly in love."

"Yeah, someone will start thinking crazy stuff, when we're only lab partners."

"Who love each other."

"Who have always loved each other."

"Who really enjoy each other's company."

"And really like taking long drives in a yellow truck."

"Who only have a limited amount of time together."

He leaned down and kissed her then.

Yes, Kissing Scenes were better than Bowling Scenes, but both put together made neither of them want to ever leave.


End file.
